A/N: Hello, told you all that It'd be a while before I updated. However you look at it Alter Negima will always be my priority. Anyway it did take me a while before I came up with this. As most of you have guessed, this is a Fate/Stay Night-Love Hina crossover. There will be spoilers I warn you… also things will not exactly go by the FSN anime storyline. I'll be changing some things, hope you guys don't flame me… much. Hope you guys enjoy this fic as much as my Alter Negima fanfic. Enjoy.
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The Continuation of My Dream
Chapter 1: Acceptance
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It was a scene of almost pure crimson. The sky, the trees, the earth, everything was bathed in the crimson aura that poured forth from the perfectly circular tear that hung in the air two stories high. Within that tear there was pure darkness. And it was spilling on the ruby glazed earth beneath it, like a glass slowly being tipped sideways. The cursed darkness that poured from it was thick and palpable. Two human figures stood but a few meters from where the darkness poured.
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"I wish to hear it… from your own lips…"
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I clenched my fist and closed my eyes as my resolved waxed and waned. Just a few words would change my life forever.
I… I couldn't…
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"Saber… Fullfill your oath…"
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I looked away from her as she raised her sword above hear head to smite the darkness, fearing that I'll lose my resolve at the very last second.
And I did.
But the die had been cast.
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"Excalibur!"
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A golden flash of light flew towards the dark portal and enveloped everything in a holy light. The darkness lifted immediately revealing the start of a new day, just moments before dawn's first light would filter through the land.
An absolutely ironic setting.
She had her back towards me and told me that she'd like to say something before she left.
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"I love you… Shirou…
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Then as quickly as she first came to be by my side, she was taken, just like a dream, by morning's first light.
Just like everything else in my life…
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"Sakura."
I remembered Rin's voice as it pierced through the other sounds of fighting that fateful night, shouting Sakura's name.
"Walt-ende." Rin's spell came out as barely a whisper, choosing to still the tears blurring her eyes instead.
A flash of light and Caster's crimson arcane circle died out.
As did Sakura.
Another wail came from Rin's lips, this time, one of loss.
I barely had time to properly mourn her passing when…
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"Rin."
Another precious person, stolen from my life. I remembered what I told her;
"Go, sleep. When you wake up, I'll have an excellent breakfast for you." The casualness of the tone was betrayed by the tears flowing from my eyes.
"Shirou… If I wake up, and see that you got beaten… I'll- I'll never forgive you…"
When she closed her eyes, I held her as tightly as I could and I cried freely, just as I did when Sakura was taken by this horrible war. I shouted again and again until my voice became hoarse.
I had lost another piece of my heart.
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There was almost nothing left…
My heart resembled the grail which hung in the air just a few minutes ago…
Dark and hollow, like it had been bled of everything of worth…
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I slumped to my knees as I faced the sunrise and bathed in its beautiful glory. I remembered Saber's words at the bridge;
"We are dreams… that cannot be possible…"
The moment I heard those words, I felt a tinge of anger. She was no dream. No dream could ever change my life the way she did.
Now… I… had thought for a fleeting moment that… I wish I never had this dream… and that… she had never said those four words before she left. Her memory seemed like poison in my veins, slowly and painfully killing me.
I'm a mess now…
How do you go back to a life where only emptiness awaited your return? Is this another interpretation of my wish? Is this another tragic hero's melodrama, where he would either give up everything or lose everything just because of his hero status? Is this another interpretation of father's words: Being able to save someone means not being able to save another? I had saved Ilya, as well as most of the city yet… I am undone.
There's almost nothing left of my life now. I can't continue as though none of it had happened.
Emiya Shirou… is dead.
I picked up Ilya, who was bundled up in a sheet I had formed out of tracing sorcery, and headed towards the Emiya household. I set her down in my room gently and covered her with a blanket. I kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear.
"I'm sorry."
Keitaro Urashima snapped out of the daze that had just befallen him. It had been weeks since Keitaro's one-day 'disappearance'. He thought he'd thrown such thoughts away. But he realized, that he'd been thinking these thoughts lately.
Ever since he broke his leg.
It didn't heal like most of his normal injuries did, which in itself is very surprising. When taken into consideration the fact that he helped Motoko face off with her sister just the other day, he wasn't surprised that his leg hasn't healed. But then he knew that, usually, a full day's rest would get him on his feet, but now his wounds hadn't healed much at all, unlike when he normally got injured. He hadn't taken the phenomena seriously, yet.
His thoughts turned back to his old memories resurfacing, the memories he tried so hard to bury. He knew that these memories were bound to haunt him once more, the moment he armed himself.
He had asked Kaolla for some custom made arrows and a bow, which he used in the fight against Tsuruko. Even these were enough to stir some buried emotions within him, but he would risk it just to help her out.
"Yield, Motoko," Tsuruko commanded her sister, as she lay on the ground facedown. When Motoko refused Tsuruko raised her blade above her head, as if to give the 'coup de grace'.
Keitaro yelled at Tsuruko, "I won't let you!"
A brief flash of orange light illuminated the battlefield and within seconds Keitaro was kneeling before Tsuruko with his hands at his sides. Tsuruko, on the other hand, couldn't believe her eyes as her blade had been broken an inch from the hilt. Its other half sticking out from the ground as it landed on its tip. Tsuruko closed her eyes and stood up straight calmly. She barely saw the two blades which broke her sword, one an elegant white and the other jet black.
"I see…" She finally said.
Their trip back to the Hinata Sou had been quite awkward, with Motoko casting Keitaro a glance every now and then. The two of them had made it back to the Hinata Sou just in time for dinner, which had been turned into a celebration because of Motoko's non-marriage. Motoko, who didn't seem too thrilled of the outcome, still kept giving Keitaro quiet glances across the table. She noticed that during their fight with her sister Keitaro somehow changed, becoming more… more like that person she, along with the other tenants, followed all those weeks ago.
Yes, she hadn't forgotten, nor did the rest of the tenants for that matter.
Each of the Hinata Sou girls had committed what happened during that day into memory.
Keitaro forced his thoughts back into the present. They'd made their triumphant return just yesterday and the fatigue was just starting to fade. Make no mistake it wasn't the fight with Tsuruko that strained Keitaro, it was his fight against himself. He'd almost broken down as he summoned two fragments of his past.
"Kanshou… Bakuya…" He whispered to no one.
It reminded him of his past, his failure and the inevitability events as the swords' previous owner had told him of.
'He was right…'
Keitaro's, no, Emiya Shirou's mind is now in chaos. He didn't know what to think now, so he did what he always did in every situation like this. Do something else. For some unfathomable reason, even to himself, Keitaro had now incorporated his 'exercise' with his everyday chores. He had to admit, it helped keep his inheritance intact, although, as Keitaro had brushed the subject, he hadn't been pummeled, slashed or experimented on for quite some time.
Not that he was complaining.
Keitaro's thoughts snapped back to the present, lately, he'd been feeling off. Like there was some intangible doom waiting in the horizon. He'd started his day like normally would, with physical exercises and some chores around the inn-turned-dormitory. He was now in the middle of cooking breakfast, when the inn's doorbell sounded. He went to get the door himself but was beaten to the punch by Shinobu.
"A-anou…" Keitaro heard Shinobu say as she opened the door for the visitor. Figuring that the visitor was male, seeing as Shinobu was acting shyly, Keitaro made for the door. Fortunately the newcomer pre-empted Shinobu.
"I'm looking for someone." The unknown visitor plainly stated in a melodic voice.
At this Keitaro chose to reveal himself as he might be able to help her more that Shinobu. As he shuffled into her view he froze as she spoke again, "I'm looking for a man named Emiya Shirou."
At last Keitaro and the visitor's eyes met.
Glowing ruby red eyes met deep dark brown ones as their gazes met. In an eternity spanning a few seconds, memories flooded back as Keitaro beheld the visage in front of him. She'd grown but she was not unrecognizable.
Memories triggered for the visitor as well, though why she couldn't tell. The person in front of her seemed familiar yet so different. It wasn't until he spoke did she recognize him.
"Il…ya…"
Her eyes widened suddenly and she responded in a light whisper. "Shi…rou?"
Ilya rushed past a confused Shinobu and tackled Shirou in a tight embrace, which pinned him against the wall. She said his name again and again as she cried freely against his chest. Shirou, tentatively wrapped his arms around her as he tried to calm her down a bit. This somewhat tender reunion, however, was shattered as all of the dorm's tenants were witness to it.
Shinobu and Kaolla were stunned… to say the least.
Kitsune's reaction was unreadable.
While of course…
"Keitarooooo…" Motoko and Naru growled warningly.
As Ilya had calmed down a bit, Keitaro flashed both of his enraged tenants a serious look. He wasn't going to take anymore… bullshit for today. The referral to Shirou as Keitaro didn't slip past Ilya as she looked up at him and asked in between sobs. "Shirou… Why are they calling you Keitaro?"
The two tenants stopped in their tracks as they heard the question.
"Shinobu," Keitaro asked calmly, "could you please prepare some tea, I have a special batch in the cabinet behind the cup noodles."
Snapping out of her stupor, she quickly retreated into the kitchen. Not minding the rest of the tenants, Shirou led Ilyasviel to the dining area. The rest stumbled in after them.
Keitaro continued his preparation of breakfast while Ilya sat at the counter behind him. She had calmed down a lot since she tasted the familiar brand of green tea Rin used to like. The tension was thick in between them that even the tenants in the dining room felt it.
Sure that no one would overhear, Shirou asked first. "How did you find me?"
"I used a spell that detects those that use tracing sorcery and reinforcing sorcery."
Sensing the inevitable question, Shirou steeled himself for it.
"Why? Why did you go?"
To that Shirou had no answer. He knew that even if he told her it wouldn't change that fact that what he did was wrong. Ilya somehow anticipated this and got to the matter at hand.
"Shirou…"
The only thing the tenants heard from the dining room were sounds of falling kitchen implements.
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A/N: Sadly Chapter 1 is shorter than the prologue. Well… that's because the prologue can be a stand alone one-shot. As this is my first fic out of a long hiatus please inform me of any grammar or punctuation mistakes so that I may improve. Also I don't know much of the Love Hina manga as I've never read a single one in my life. The only thing I've got as knowledge from the Love Hina canon was from the anime and all of the fics I've read, so please pardon some... inconsistencies. I hope that I can get my old readers back, and then some. Anyway I hope to update more frequently from now on. Please enjoy.
